Enhancing photo's

Paul B · Mar 23, 2014

Now I realize that there are some really beautiful tanks on here out of the thousands of tanks we have featured, but I also notice that many of the photo's are enhanced through photoshop. Many corals are really colorful as are our fish but some of the shots are over the top. I see a lot of purple hippo tangs, fluorescent clowns and glowing mandarins A mandarin is arguably the most colorful fish and hippo tangs are certainly the nicest color "blue" but I have spent time under water with almost all the fish we keep and those fish are no where near the colors represented on some of these forums. Corals either. I even see photo's of my own tank posted in different places on the web and they are enhanced by others.
It certainly makes it look more beautiful and the corals are radiant. But that is not how any of these things appear in nature.
I just would like Noobs to realize that some of the tank photo's are photoshoped and your real life tank will never normally look like that.
This is a real coral reef in Bora Bora with just the camera flash.

This is that same reef under the Tahitian tropical sun with no flash.

I recently took this in Hawaii in shallow water with no flash.

:mod:

Mattyice008 · Mar 23, 2014

Yea, I've been tricked into buying very expensive frags online, only to see that the seller had edited them to bring out colors that you wouldn't see unless you had a microscope. Was pretty ****** about that. Then I asked them why 2 of the frags looked nothing like the picture, and he said "Well yea, they're only like 20$ frags..they're not going to look that great". I just chose to never buy from them again, along with buying online at all. I myself edit some pictures of my coral, but only because my camera cant take pics of coral under only blue lights. I edit it just enough to where you can see the color. But yea I agree, almost every tank/coral pic that is either for show or for sell is usually photoshopped to make it look 10x better.

Paul B · Mar 23, 2014

There is nothing wrong with enhancing colors in pictures, all magazines do it as do painters. When I worked Penthouse Magazine I used to see the models come in and watch as they took the pictures. (only for the artistic value of course) and those girls coming in looked nothing like the girls in the photo's. Not that I am complaining, just the opposite. But we don't want noobs to get the wrong Idea that that is what these tanks look like because some of them have some really garish colors that although look beautiful, are not what the tank looks like in person. Besides, I don't even know how to use photoshop. If I did, I would always have hair. :bounce:

golfnut1232 · Apr 3, 2014

The reality is is that most people that have a reef tank try to add what to their lighting? Supplemental actinic lighting whether it be blue LEDs, vho's etc, etc. why do we do that? Because 99% of us are looking for that "pop" in the colors of our corals and fish. I get so tired of the "purists" who say that's not how they look naturally in the wild, or the photos must be photoshopped and on and on and on. Who cares. Do your homework and you won't be duped into buying something and then being disappointed. IMO the fact is is that most reefers wouldn't be as into this hobby without being mesmerized by the colors that the artificial tank lighting provides.